Members of Operation Ubuntu, a march for land, housing, dignity and justice, are expected to kick off several placard protests across South Africa on Saturday.
Over 60 organisations representing communities across the country are expected to rise in unity under the banner of Operation Ubuntu. This mass action is not only a protest, but a declaration of solidarity and justice.
Western Cape organiser Tauriq Jenkins stated that the march is also for every woman, child, community – because none of us are free until all of us are safe
Some of Operation Ubuntu’s demands are:
End xenophobia: African solidarity cannot be broken by hate. Protect vulnerable migrant communities from violence and exploitation.Land and housing justice: Reject the Prevention of Illegal Eviction (PIE) Amendment Bill that enables mass evictions and corporate land theft.
Jenkins stated they will hand over a list of demands to the Cape Town SAPS on Saturday.
“We urge the police to take direct, sustained action against vigilante groups, following prior correspondence to the Minister of Police raising the state’s failure to do so. We also call for the arrest of the drug lords and for steps to end the trend of mass shootings in communities,” he said.
Also on the list of demands by Operation Ubuntu are: arrest and charge individuals engaging in incitement to violence and hate speech against foreign nationals, including those responsible for the eThekwini social-media incitement in which viral threats of “petrol and burners” were made against a refugee community.
“This march takes place on the eve of Women’s Day to declare: women’s safety is not negotiable. Migrant women, local women, and children deserve to live free from fear,” he said.
Operation Ubuntu marches are expected at Beyers Naude Square in Johannesburg, Hanover Street in Cape Town, and Durban City Hall in eThekwini
IOL